Announced for the first time in May 2024, the Recall functionality promises to become one of the flagship innovations of PC Copilot+ rotating under Windows 11. As a reminder, PC Copilot+ are computers specifically designed to integrate artificial intelligence in order to improve the experience of daily users.
Recall functionality has been debated since last year
Only here, Recall immediately received a mixed reception from cybersecurity experts. In particular, it aroused concerns in terms of data and data confidentiality.
Microsoft therefore preferred to delay its launch for several months in order to strengthen its safety and make fixes. Recall (which one could translate by finding in French) periodically performs screenshots (called snapshots) of your activity.
The objective is to keep track of everything that is done on the PC in order to quickly and easily find information. The functionality is in the form of a timeline that it is enough to parade to find subsequent activities.
A kind of digital memory to quickly find images, documents, websites, etc.
As Microsoft explains in a press release, “Recall recovers your digital memory, allowing you to return to your steps in seconds to find and return quickly and safely to an application, a website, an image or a document”.
Microsoft says in particular that you can find a PowerPoint presentation “up to 70 % faster”. In addition to the timeline, Recall also offers a research function. Just describe the content you remember in the search bar to find it.
Microsoft strengthens recall safety, but cannot make it infallible
The concerns of the general public in terms of security are therefore completely legitimate. Among the fixes made to strengthen Recall safety, there is in particular a biometric connection via Windows Hello or a PIN code to access screenshots.
Even with secure access, Recall could record sensitive data. These would be potentially exposed in the event of a cyber attack or if an unauthorized person accesses the computer.
Control options to reassure Windows 11 users
In addition, Recall also raises questions concerning the storage of a large amount of screenshots. It will be possible to choose the maximum storage space allocated to Recall. It takes at least 25 GB for PCS with 512 GB or 1 TB of storage.
Another function is to manually filter websites that you do not want to capture with chromium -based browsers such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox and Opera.
In any case, users can deactivate the functionality if they wish. They will also have the opportunity to uninstall it completely. The Recall functionality will be gradually deployed on all Copilot+ PCs during the month of May.
